


The Better Thing - ficlets and drabbles

by Leni



Series: The Better Thing [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-28 05:08:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17176490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leni/pseuds/Leni
Summary: If it's 300 words or less, it's here.





	1. "late"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for @nropay

Rumpelstiltskin must have already sensed her presence, possibly from the moment she’d grabbed the key he had enchanted for her. His back might be turned to the door, but his rhythm at the wheel was slow, and the string of gold at his feet lacked the shine of new magic.

Anyone else would have been fooled by his pretense of being interrupted at his work, but Belle, who’d carried the Dark One’s dagger for several months, was too attuned to his power.

It had changed her.

He had changed her.

She could only hope the opposite was true as well.

*

“What brings you here today, mistress?”

Belle knew that he was smiling as he spoke that moniker. “Now that’s a title come too late, Rumple,” she said, laughing a little. “I can’t be your mistress when I haven’t even laid eyes on the dagger since last spring.”

He giggled, stretching his neck backwards so he could see her. “Now that’s a lack of imagination.”

Another meaning for ‘mistress’ dawned on Belle; she bit her lip, blushing. “Do I get your other dagger, then?”

Rumpelstiltskin stared, faking shock. “Is that request or challenge?”

Belle stroked his hair playfully. “Can’t you guess?”


	2. “look over here”

The tang of magic in the air alerted him of a visitor, but Rumpelstiltskin kept his back against the iron bars and stared at the wall.

“Hallucinations,” he tried to convince himself. “My mind’s finally snapped.”

“Your mind is the finest in the realm,” Belle told him. Then, when he persisted in ignoring her. “Look over here, Rumple.”

Sighing, he did.

The effect of the invisibility potion, already weakened by the long trek through guarded tunnels, dropped completely.

“You demented woman,“ he said with feeling.

Belle smiled despite the circumstances. “I prefer it when you greet me with a kiss.”


	3. "looting"

Rumpelstiltskin raised his hand, ready to curse the huddling men into insect-sized pests. He’d gritted his teeth through the looting of the pawnshop, because he needed the Savior’s goodwill above the trinkets the curse had gifted him.

Here, in his true home, he could punish trespassers at will.

“Rumple. Don’t.”

A hand curled around his elbow, a familiar touch he didn’t reject.

“You command me again, mistress?”

His queen rested her forehead on his shoulder. “Yes.”

Magic receded, bound by her will and her will alone.

“Leave,” he hissed, throwing the doors open. “And thank the lady for your lives.”

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback, please!


End file.
